10 influential figures added to Brentford Hall of Fame

Promotion-winning captain Pontus Jansson was among 10 new inductees to the Brentford Hall of Fame on Wednesday evening.

Frank Blunstone, Amy Crook, Billy Dare, John Docherty, Terry Hurlock, Jansson, Chris Kamara, Billy Lane, Duncan McKenzie and Andy Scott were all recognised for their outstanding contributions to the club.

The Hall of Fame was founded in 1991, and there are now 69 members in total following Wednesday’s ceremony at Gtech Community Stadium.

“I feel home and feel such a warm welcome from everyone who works at the club and every supporter,” said Jansson.

“I love this club. I see everyone in [the Brentford dressing room] as a brother and a friend for life. I am caring and I am following every second.

“I came here when Brentford was in the Championship, and I left top half of the Premier League. I see that I was a big part of that.”

To conclude the event, Jansson surprised Peter Gilham – the man he lifted the Championship play-off final trophy with in May 2021 – by presenting him with the lifetime achievement award.

Gilham has served the Bees in a number of roles over the decades.

As the club’s matchday announcer, he has been the voice of Brentford for 55 years and more than 1,500 matches.

"Tonight means absolutely everything,” said Gilham, “I had no idea at all.”

“We were here to celebrate some great players who've been an integral part of the club, so to think that little old me should be rewarded as well is very special to me.

“Brentford is an integral part of my life, and I want Brentford to be an integral part of everybody's life, whether they be supporters, players or managers. It is important to talk to them and to get them to understand.

“Brentford is respected for the way that we have done it; we've done it the right way and that's something we should never lose.”

The 10 newest members of Brentford’s Hall of Fame

Frank Blunstone

Frank Blunstone played 347 times in all competitions for Brentford's west London neighbours Chelsea and earned five England caps under Walter Winterbottom before a second leg break spelled the end of his career at the age of only 30 in 1964.

He remained at Chelsea, learning his trade as a coach, before being appointed as Jimmy Sirrel's successor at Griffin Park in December 1969.

The Bees finished fifth in 1969/70, 14th in 1970/71, and were promoted from the Fourth Division after finishing third in 1971/72.

Blunstone is responsible for bringing legends Jackie Graham, Terry Scales and the late Paul Bence to the club.

Following immediate relegation, Blunstone left to take up a coaching role at Manchester United, but returned to become Fred Callaghan's assistant in the early 1980s.

When Callaghan was sacked in February 1984, Blunstone oversaw the 3-2 home defeat to Gillingham before Frank McLintock took over.

Amy Crook

Appearances: 480 | Goals: 300

Amy Crook has been involved with Brentford Football Club for more than 30 years and was part of the women's set-up from the very beginning, after her father, Roger Crook, established the team in 1990.

While playing for the club, Crook worked in various administrative positions for Football in the Community at Brentford and, when that transformed into Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, she became office manager and matchday community co-ordinator, with the latter meaning she was often visible pitchside before matches at Griffin Park.

In 2020 - after 15 years with the Trust - Crook was appointed as Brentford Women's general manager and community executive, which she said was "one of the proudest moments in my career".

In the dual role, she has taken on the responsibility of ensuring the welfare and safeguarding of the women’s teams players and staff members, as well as overseeing the matchday experience for fans.

Her journey from player to general manager serves as an inspiration to aspiring female footballers who seek to make their mark in the industry.

Billy Dare

Appearances: 222 | Goals: 68

Willesden-born Billy Dare started his career at nearby Hendon in the late 1940s.

Dare joined Brentford in November 1948 as one of legendary manager Harry Curtis's final signings.

It wasn't until March 1949 that he made his debut, by which time Jackie Gibbons had replaced Curtis at the helm.

He played 122 times in all competitions in his first three full seasons at the club, scoring 46 times, with a goal tally befitting the role on the wing he often played.

Nevertheless, returns of 14, 16 and 16 earned him status as top scorer in each campaign.

Dare spent two further campaigns at Brentford and was part of the team that suffered relegation from the Second Division in 1953/54.

He played 11 more times in the Third Division South, before signing for West Ham in front of the cameras on the BBC's Sportsview programme.

Dare passed away at the age of 67 in May 1994.

John Docherty

Appearances: 278 | Goals: 79

John Docherty's long connection with Brentford began in 1959, when he was signed from Glasgow-based St Roch's during fellow Scot Malky MacDonald's time in charge.

Time at Sheffield United and Reading broke up three separate spells, during which time the 5ft 5in winger - named Player of the Year in 1966/67 - made 252 appearances and scored 79 goals, which is a figure only 10 men have bettered in Brentford's time as a Football League club.

Docherty also played a starring role in the Fourth Division promotion of 1971/72.

After a matter of months at QPR following his release in the summer of 1974, Docherty returned to Griffin Park as manager, replacing Mike Everitt in January 1975, and took charge of 78 games.

He returned one final time in February 1984 and worked as Frank McLintock’s assistant until taking over as Millwall manager in July 1986.

Terry Hurlock

Appearances: 263 | Goals: 24

Terry Hurlock was on West Ham's books from a young age and became an apprentice aged 16, but was deemed surplus to requirements in 1979 and dropped into non-league football without having made the grade at the Boleyn Ground.

He spent time at Enfield and Leytonstone & Ilford before Fred Callaghan convinced Brentford chair Dan Tana to part ways with £10,000 for Hurlock's signature.

It turned out to be one of the great bargains; the trio of Hurlock, Chris Kamara and Stan Bowles is considered to be among the best in Brentford history.

“Me and Tel frightened teams before we even kicked off!” Kamara said in an interview with the club last year. "We had a great relationship; we liked to get stuck in, but we both could play, too."

Hurlock captained Brentford in the 1985 Freight Rover Trophy final and went on to play for the likes of Millwall, Rangers and Southampton, before retiring at Fulham in 1995.

Pontus Jansson

Appearances: 115 | Goals: 4

The signing of Swedish defender Pontus Jansson came as a huge surprise in the summer of 2019.

He had been one of Leeds’ most consistent performers over the three seasons prior and the fact he signed a three-year deal in west London was seen as a significant coup – and rightly so, as it turned out.

There was no surprise when he was handed the captain’s armband shortly after his arrival, with his undying passion and determination uniting the players and fans in the quest for Premier League football.

Injuries limited him to 24 Championship appearances in 2020/21, yet he appeared in the play-offs and lifted the trophy after Wembley success over Swansea.

Subsequently, Jansson was a key figure in the club’s first Premier League campaign and departed after four seasons in the summer of 2023 to return to boyhood club Malmö.

Chris Kamara MBE

Appearances: 190 | Goals: 32

When Portsmouth declared an interest in signing Brentford striker David Crown in 1981, Fred Callaghan told the south coast club the only player he would accept in exchange would be Chris Kamara and a deal was done.

The midfielder made his debut against Burnley and unbeknownst to him, became Brentford's first ever Black player. "I'll forever have that accolade and I’m dead proud of it,” he said in an interview with the club in 2023.

Kamara formed a formidable midfield relationship with Terry Hurlock and Stan Bowles, with many Brentford fans still in disbelief it was not promotion-winning unit.

He won Supporters' Player of the Year in 1983/84.

Kamara spent three full seasons at Griffin Park and left in August 1985, having made just shy of 200 appearances for the club.

Billy Lane

Appearances: 123 | Goals: 93

Before he was snapped up by Tottenham in 1923, Billy Lane played for a host of amateur clubs, including Walthamstow-based Gnome Athletic, who were then managed by Harry Curtis.

He moved on to Leicester in 1926 and Reading in 1928, with little success at either club, before Curtis brought him to Brentford in May 1929.

Across the season that followed, he scored what was then a club record of 33 goals in all competitions, as the Bees finished second in the Third Division South having won all 21 of their home league matches - a club record that still stands today.

Lane added 59 more goals across the next two seasons, which took him to 89 goals in just 123 appearances.

His time at the club ended there, though, with his sale to Watford facilitating the purchase of Jack Holliday, Billy Scott and Herbert Watson from Middlesbrough in May 1932.

Lane returned to Brentford in a coaching capacity after the Second World War and later spent a decade as Brighton manager. He died in November 1985 at the age of 81.

Duncan McKenzie

Appearances: 371 | Goals: 28

Around the time of his 20th birthday, Duncan McKenzie left his native Scotland in August 1932 to sign for Brentford for £350.

He had played regularly for Albion Rovers, but had to exercise patience in west London, with only 14 appearances in all competitions across his first two seasons under Harry Curtis.

He forced his way in thereafter and played 31 times in the 1934/35 Second Division promotion season.

After 160 games for Brentford, McKenzie was sold to Middlesbrough for £6,000 in May 1938, having requested a transfer, but his one and only season on Teesside was curtailed by the outbreak of the Second World War.

During the war, he returned to the club as a guest and played in more than 100 wartime fixtures, most notably being part of the squad that won the 1942 London War Cup.

McKenzie later emigrated to the USA and was in his mid-70s when he died in 1987.

Andy Scott

Appearances: 135 | Goals: 35

Andy Scott probably couldn't believe his luck when, not less than two years after being let go by Wimbledon as a youth player in 1991, he had dropped into non-league with Sutton, then been signed by Sheffield United and made his Premier League debut - in the Steel City derby, no less.

In November 1997 - having struggled to make a significant impact at Bramall Lane - he joined Micky Adams' Brentford, but it was not until the Third Division promotion season of 1998/99 that, on the left wing, he began to prove his worth.

In 2000/01, Scott deputised for Lloyd Owusu up front and scored 13 goals.

He left Brentford in 2001 and played for Oxford and Leyton Orient for another four years before a heart condition forced his retirement at the age of 32.

After time spent as Orient's youth coach, Scott returned to Brentford as Terry Butcher's assistant, then took on the manager's job on a permanent basis in January 2008.

In his first full season in charge, Scott led Brentford to the League Two title, becoming the first men's manager to win a league title as both a player and a manager.

Having gone on to manage Rotherham and Aldershot, Scott has worked in recruitment roles at Brentford, Watford, Swansea, Nottingham Forest and, currently, Charlton, where he is technical director.